Saturday, September 5, 2020

Operation Citadel : Berezovka Heights

 On 10 July 1943, Grossdeutschland recon battalion, along with the mechanized panzergrenadiers and assault guns attacked Hill 247 astride one of the main Soviet supply roads. Opposite Hill 243 was Hill 247. Both were covered in armor and anti-tank batteries.

Not based on an actual map but this one: http://saskatoonminiwargamer.blogspot.com/2018/04/panzergrenadier-aar-berezovka-july-1043_16.html

Battalions of the 200th Tank Brigade, supported by ATG batteries.

Grossdeutschland's recon battalion, assault guns, and I/PzGren advance towards hill 247.

The battle begins in earnest, but the German commander has foolishly split their attacks between the battalions.

After 3.5 hours of fighting for Hill 247, with only I/[PzGren remaining, GD Panzers and II and III/PzGren began their assault of Hill 243 under heavy fire.

II/PzGren in coordination with II/Pz eliminate the Soviet defense on the right of the hill. The Soviets sent up a motorized rifle battalion retake the hill.

III/PzGren moves up the road between the hills to provide support for either flank as needed.

The Soviet commander watches as Grossdeutschland completely wrests away control of 243.

On the Soviet right on 247 however, things were going a little better. But barely. I/PzGren would eventually be driven off.

After 7 hours of fighting, the Germans have a numerical advantage (two units off camera, an they had a good supply of artillery) but the hills are equally divided.

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I set a turn limit of 12 turns + additional turns determined by die roll. In total, 14 were played. Arguably, had the game continued, the Germans likely would have captured both hills - their infantry could easily hold off the Soviet infantry to their right, and the three tank units could deal with the Soviet armor on 247.

In testing this scenario, I made good use of a spearhead attack with the initial assault on 247 - piling up on one of the Soviet tank battalions. Instead, in the event, I opted to split my attacks between them. I believe that cost Grossdeutschland that hill. On their right, they fared better with the combination of panzers and pansergrenadiers assaulting the Soviet positions. 

 The Soviet rifle battalions could not gain sufficient advantage to assault the panzergrenadiers without risking their own elimination - this is due to the fact that the PzGrens are veterans (they save on 2/4/6), while they were standard (save on 4 or 6). 

In the end, both sides got 1 point for destroying around 1/3 of the enemy's forces, and 1 point for the draw. The campaign totals are now Grossdeutschland 13, the Soviets 10.

The fifth and final battle will be a hypothetical Soviet counter-attack as within a few days of the historical version of the events described here, the Allies would invade Italy and Hitler would order a cessation of Citadel.




2 comments:

  1. Exciting stuff. So who is winning the campaign?

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    Replies
    1. Grossdeutschland is up by 3. It’s still possible for the Soviets to win but they really need a victory the next battle to pull that off.

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